Durham Schools’ Union have partnered with Vic Young Mitsubishi Motors’ to increase the number of Young Match Officials in the County.

Durham are pleased to announce one of their new sponsorship partnership with Vic Young car dealership, which will help the Schools’ Union provide referee qualifications and support for hundreds of young rugby ambassadors.

The Young Match Officials Programme has been designed to recruit school pupils to become level one and level two qualified referees.

Vic Young, Managing Director of the Dealership, said: “I have had many years’ of experience in rugby throughout the North East.

“And, I take pride in ensuring young people of the area take the opportunity of a well-balanced environment which I believe the rugby community offers to them.”

This opportunity will work with a cluster of affiliated Durham Schools’ to begin with, to provide Rugby Football Union accredited Quilter Kids First Refereeing courses and Refereeing the 15-aside game courses. The level one qualification will enable the pupils to referee up to U13, while the level two covers all ages.

YMO: Match Official shirts for Young Rugby volunteers

Young added: “At the risk of sounding corny, the people of the North East have been very generous with their support for the business in the last 45 years, and this is our way of putting something back!”

As well as opening the door to more young rugby volunteers and adding value to their rugby experience, this programme will also welcome Durham County Referee Society Mentors to shadow the rugby ambassadors and improve their confidence and knowledge of the game.

Durham is not only the first Schools’ Union to lead on such a programme, thanks to their sponsorship deal but they will also be the first to offer ‘Referee Caps’ to pupils that join the programme.

The referees will be invited to officiate at Durham Schools’ fixtures such as the County Cup and local festivals. By attending the events, they gain points in the YMO Schools’ table and Schools’ could be in with a chance of winning and RFU equipment pack.

John Pearson, Former Schools’ Union Secretary, said: “The average referee age in Durham, is ageing and this programme will enable us to challenge that by supporting a new feed of young ambassadors.

“This will hopefully invite more than just rugby players to the programme, and instead increase the pool of people involved in the game in the area.

“It is just the beginning of a fantastic opportunity for Durham Schools.”

If you would like to learn more about refereeing, please check out the latest course dates near you, or get in touch with Durham County at dcrfu@therfu.com.

Keep an eye out for more news on our YMO programme, and another monetary award confirmed, this week!

Durham Schools’ Cup competition off to a flying start thanks to over 100 female players and sponsors Vic Young Ltd.

Durham County Schools’ launched their 2018 Cup competition with over 130 girls playing rugby, and six brand new young match officials refereeing.

The Schools’ Union hosted the first of many competitions of the year, for the U13 and U15 girls schools’ teams in the County at West Hartlepool RFC, yesterday.

But, it was not only an exciting day of rugby with an impressive 96 tries, it also saw six of our newly qualified Young Match Officials take up the whistle and run four pitches of competitive rugby.

Students from Durham Johnston and St John’s Catholic Academy were part of the first wave of the Durham Schools’ Union Young Match Official programme sponsored by Vic Young Mitsubishi Motors’.

The afternoon of rugby saw three pitches of U15 girls rugby in action, while the U13s tackled it out in a pool of four on the bottom two pitches, seeing the competition off to a successful start with 15 games of rugby played.

Our next round will see the YR 12/13 Boys competition return to West Hartlepool while the YR 10/11 Boys divide between the North and South AGP pitches at Blaydon and Billingham, next Wednesday afternoon.

Take a look at the fabulous pictures captured by photographer, Sally Evans, HERE.

As well as our county programme, we also have a talented players programme called DPP for ages U13 – U15 males. If you wish to get involved in that, please contact David Hill: georgedavidhill@yahoo.co.uk

Durham County Rugby Football Union are teaming up with Newcastle Falcons, in conjunction with Newcastle2019.com to bring you a ‘Story of the Month’ Award. Do you know a veteran that has been with your club for as long as the club has been around? Maybe, you have a whole family playing rugby wi…

Durham County Cup competition hailed an enjoyable day for Women’s Rugby

Durham County Rugby Football Union crown the 2018 Cup and Plate Winners at an entertaining festival of rugby, hosted by Billingham RUFC.

Yesterday saw around 100 people gather at the Rugby 365 pitch to watch, play and support the Women’s County Cup competition, which saw Sunderland Flames crowned County Cup champions and Hartlepool Rovers take the Plate.

The round robin event, originally set out for five teams saw Darlington, Hartlepool Rovers and Sunderland Flames battle it out for the 2018 titles.

In the opening game, Sunderland Flames set the stage with a 28-0 victory over Hartlepool Rovers, with tries from Clarissa Murphy, Ellie Pigford, Tara Breslin and Steph Maddison, including four from four conversions from Breslin’s boot.

Straight back into action, Darlington prepared for their opening fixture against Sunderland Flames, despite two early unconverted tries from Flames Captain Amber Stonehouse and Nicole Irving, the match remained physical and a battle of the best in the centre of the field.

Darlington used their forward strength to continue through the phases in the 22, before seeing Jess Cheesman over in the corner for the sides first five points of the game.

However, Sunderland remained confident in their ability as they played the ball wide for the last play of the game for Jenny Cox to cross out wide, converted by Breslin to concluded a tough game with a 17-5 win.

But, it was in the final round robin fixture that we saw the try of the game, as Hartlepool Rovers full back, Caitlin Dunn took the ball from the defending 22 to run in under the posts to secure a 7-0 victory for the underdogs.

Caitlin Dunn; Try of the competition

And with a win and loss under their belt, it was Hartlepool Rovers that took to the pitch once more to play first placed Sunderland Flames in the final.

It was obvious that Sunderland had a much tougher fight on their hands heading in to the second meeting, as the side joined the field with an unmatchable sense of achievement and pride.

Sunderland kicked off the game, with the Hartlepool Ladies carrying the ball strong into contact. Just a few minutes in, the Wearside ladies took the lead as Breslin broke the line to score under the posts.

Rovers continued to show their intent throughout with strong defensive pressure, but despite the physicality thrown at the side, Sunderland used the wider channels to pick up the gaps and score another two tries through Jill Riley and Pigford to win the competition 19-0.

The presentation of prizes was carried out by Durham 2018 President, David Sawyer in Billingham’s club house. And, it is questionable if third placed Darlington Ladies were the afternoon’s real winners with a crate of cider awarded to them from Women and Girls Chair, Jan Duncan.

A huge well done to all players that took part in the afternoon’s competition, it was noted as an excellent afternoon of talented rugby!

View the full album of photos from the afternoon, by Sally Evans, here.

“And we would love to broadcast its arrival throughout Durham to recruit new girls, to try out this great sport!”

The development days are set to take place on September 16th and September 30th, from 1pm until 3pm.

Each event will conclude the fun filled activity based day with a complimentary BBQ, and of course the bar will be open!

Those attending can even grab a chance to win a free shirt, all you have to do is go along to both sessions.

Does this sound like something that could be a fun opportunity for you, or even your mum, sister, friend or cousin? Well head over to the Facebook event now to keep in touch with all the information for the two days.

Mowden Park set to launch a Young Sports Leadership Programme

Darlington Mowden Park have announced that they will host a level one and level two young sports leadership programme from September this year.

The programme is open to anyone, over the age of 12 that are interested in learning valuable communication and leadership skills through the use of sport.

This announcement comes after the hosts experienced a successful pilot programme, during the Summer Activity Programme.

“Mowden Park in the Community are excited to extend this programme, which will incorporate specific volunteering opportunities linked with Mowden Park Match Days and Mowden Park in the Community Festivals.”

You can find out more about the level one and two qualifications and how to book on, here.

Bradford commented: “It was fantastic to see so many girls along playing rugby for their school.

“Despite the sun hiding away it was a great afternoon with entertaining rugby on display.

“It was all about the schools and players having fun and enjoying an afternoon of rugby.”

As well as lots of young players enjoying playing, the beach festival also welcomed ten recently qualified level one referees from East Durham College and two from Durham Johnston through the Durham County Schools Union Young Match Officials Programme to help referee the games.

Bradford added: “The young match official programme with Durham County has allowed us to fund over thirty level one qualifications of recent.

“Having young officials at events like this are essential as they would not be able to go ahead otherwise.

“It is also a great environment for them to learn within and build their confidence.”

Durham County Sevens Winners receive silverware and a ticket through to National Final

Billingham Men and Sunderland Ladies represented Durham County in the Regional RFU Sevens competition at West Park Leeds RFC.

After topping their groups and winning their finals at the Durham County 7s tournament at Billingham, the hosts Men and Sunderland Ladies were invited down to the regional competition.

In the Ladies competition there were a number of drop outs leaving the Flames to play Preston Grasshoppers, Harrogate Ladies and West Park Leeds in a round robin event.

Across on the other pitch, the Billingham Men took to the field against Mighty Peth, Northern Assassins, Ilkley and International Gents.

Both the Billingham Men and the Sunderland Ladies came away winners on the day.
The ladies won the Regional Plate final 34-14 against Preston Grasshoppers, while Billingham Men won two out of three pool games to face International Gents in the cup Final. Despite a 29-17 defeat to International Gents, as Cup runners up, Billingham will travel to the England Rugby 24/7 National Final at Bath at the end of the month.

Billingham Men pick up runners up prize in Cup Final

Scorers across the day came from a number of players within the Flames including; Becky Robson, Clarissa Murphy, Jenny Cox, Karen Donkin, Kirsty Paterson, Olivia Davison and Steph Maddison, while all of the Billingham Men players picked up a try too.

Peter Evans, Billingham Men’s Coach, said: “Everyone scored on the day, but a special mention goes out the youngsters, 18 year old Alfie Lawson and 17 year old Joe Ross.

“They both stood up well on the senior stage and performed for the benefit of the team.”

In the Ladies competition, last year’s champions West Park Leeds went on to win the cup final against Harrogate.

Evans added; “It is a fantastic achievement for a young bunch.

“We played against regular 7s squads who are put together from far and wide, with much more experience in the shorter game than us.

In our cup final we were down to nine men, due to injuries and anyone who has played 7s will know it is a squad game and it was hard work out in the heat.

“Fortunately as we all play regularly together and have a tight squad we managed to get up to speed quickly and turn things around.

“The trip will give some of the lads who have not played on a bigger stage the experience and exposure which will benefit them in the long run.”

The National Final will be played via an online stream, with a total of eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams competing to be named the best amateur Sevens side in the Country.

Durham County RFU would like to wish the best of luck to Billingham in the final event.

View the pictures from the Durham County Sevens qualifier by Sally Evans, here.